


Hot Julys

by Rosie2009



Series: Descendants Fanfiction [18]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Disney - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-02
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-07-29 17:50:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20086294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosie2009/pseuds/Rosie2009
Summary: Evie gets sick and Mal has to deal with all of the consequences. The really gross consequences. Carlos and Jay eventually get roped into it and it becomes a full-on family affair. Family feels ultimately, but there is some Bal if you squint, tilt your head to the side, and stick out your tongue a little.





	Hot Julys

“Mal?” the purple-haired girl in question looked up, her response a bit delayed because of the overwhelming, miserable heat that had decided to take hold of the room around her.

It was mid-July, and Mal was sure she was going to die simply because of the immense wave of hot that had chosen to strike all of Auradon Prep. It was awful. The air conditioner didn’t work all that well and the worst part of it was that it kept turning off just when Mal thought she was going to get cooler.

Needless to say it was really frustrating.

Once she was over her minor heat-induced sluggishness, to her utter and complete surprise, Evie was standing there in the doorway, her hair completely frazzled and her makeup smeared. She raised an eyebrow, shocked at Evie’s lack of personal upkeep. Upon a second glance, however, she noticed that Evie’s eyes were ridiculously tired and her entire posture was sagging to an all-time low.

“I think I’m sick,” Evie proclaimed, proceeding to cough hard and roughly into her arm.

“It certainly sounds that way, that’s for sure. Why don’t you come over here and lay down next to me?” She had been lounging on Evie’s bed because it was closer to the vent that sent the cooler air through it.

“That sounds like a good idea… I’m really cold,” Evie muttered thickly as she shuffled nearer to where Mal was sitting.

Mal paused in her attempts to fan the cool air in her face to stare at the bluenette.

“If you’re saying things like that, you’re definitely sick,” Mal groaned, letting her hand drop as she flipped the pillow over yet again in an attempt to find a cooler surface to lay her head on.

She felt the bed dip a bit as Evie moved onto it. Mal moved over so that she was not hanging off the edge of the bed.

“My skin hurts,” Evie whined as she rubbed her arm against Mal’s in an attempt to reach around the purple-haired girl. Apparently being sick made Evie clingy.

“Well, why are you trying to hug me then?” Mal asked as she begrudgingly wrapped an arm around Evie’s shoulders. Evie’s skin was so hot and Mal really didn’t know how much cuddliness she could take considering the temperature.

“Because I want hugs more than my skin hurts…” Evie looked up at Mal, purposefully trying to execute her adorable puppy face with her soulful brown eyes. It didn’t help that she was acting like a puppy, too.

Mal just sighed but allowed Evie to hang there on her side for at least a little bit longer as she pulled her slightly closer.

Mal winced as the bluenette coughed once again, her throat sounding like it was viciously tearing itself apart. Once she had finally loosened some of the congestion, Evie sniffed hard and finally rested her head on Mal’s shoulder weakly.

“How long have you been like this?” Mal asked, looking down at Evie as the girl in question snuggled closer into the deep purple fabric of her shirt.

“You mean how long have I been sick?” Evie checked for clarification. Mal rolled her eyes, gently tugging a lock of Evie’s long hair.

“Yeah, goofy. What did you think I meant? I know that you’ve been a hugger for all of your life. Or at least since you’ve been allowed to,” Mal chuckled, fanning her face with a hand as another heat wave hit her as the air conditioner turned off for the millionth time.

“I’ve been feeling crummy since this morning.” Mal remembered that she when she had woken up, the sheets on Evie’s bed were thrown off toward the foot of the bed. That must have been how she missed Evie’s leaving. “A few hours later, I just decided I probably didn’t need to go and work in my shop.”

“Ya think?” Mal sarcastically questioned, but she bit back any further comments because she knew it wasn’t right to pick on a girl while she was down.

Evie nodded her head, burying her face into Mal’s shirt. Mal immediately flinched at the enormous heat waves coming off of Evie’s head. It was obvious she had quite a fever.

Mal lay there patiently for a while longer, silently tolerating Evie’s temperature that seemed to pour in a steady stream of hot uncomfortableness. Everything felt almost like it was closing in on her- Evie’s hot against her skin and clothes, the air’s humidity, the growing warmth of the blankets from Evie’s excessive heat radiation.

So Mal did what any normal person would do. She moved away from the source of the misery.

Almost immediately, Evie followed her. Mal immediately felt the rising temperature culminating into a huge ball of irritation in the pit of her stomach.

Mal shifted away again, and to her immense frustration, Evie continued to move right behind her. This process continued for a few more moments until Mal completely ran out of patience.

“Would you stop getting so darned close to me?!” Mal grumpily told her, scooting away to the other side of the bed as she attempted desperately to escape the heat of Evie’s feverish form.

“But you’re so warm and I’m freezing to death,” Evie hoarsely replied, her voice affected by the immense amount of coughing she had been suffering.

“But you’re burning hot and I’m burning hot and I’m having a heat stroke,” Mal protested, trying desperately to move further away. However, she quickly realized there was no more room for her to move into and that Evie had finally trapped her.

“Okay, I’ve got to take a break,” Mal finally proclaimed. Evie immediately protested with whimpers and whines of how she couldn’t possibly stand to be without somebody there to make her feel better.

“Do you want me to get one of the boys?” Mal inquired, trying to pull away out of Evie’s stubborn hold.

“No! I don’t want you to leave me…” Mal groaned as Evie wallowed closer to her, practically tangling her limbs with Mal’s.

_It’s days like this that I really wish that I was living in a different room_, Mal bitterly thought to herself, shooting daggers down at the girl who continued to get nearer and nearer. But she didn’t really mean it. She loved Evie and loved to live in the same room with her. It was so nice having her best friend right across the room.

However, she noted as she felt another heat wave coming on, Evie was being really irritating right now, even if she couldn’t help it.

“Why don’t you get under the blankets?” Mal suggested, hoping to get cooler.

“That’s a good idea, I guess. I just can’t hardly convince myself to move away…” Mal rolled her eyes, raising up and fighting with the blankets so that they covered Evie. As soon as she had succeeded in making Evie resemble a rolled-up burrito, Mal moved over to the very edge of the bed so that the barely working air conditioner would blow in her face.

She sighed in contentment. It was such a good idea to wrap Evie up so she couldn’t get loose and move over to her. Mal felt so much better since she was far off on the other side of the bed, away from Evie’s overwhelming heat.

“Mal, I think I’m going to be sick,” Evie rasped, gagging and sounding about one heartbeat away from puking all over the blankets.

And then those feelings of relief all went away.

Mal immediately hopped up and ran over to Evie’s side of the bed, throwing the quilts off of the bluenette and helping her up as well as she could.

She hurried the both of them to the bathroom and grabbed Evie’s hair as the slightly older girl proceeded to spill whatever she had in her stomach. It was all Mal could do not to throw up herself. Just the retching noises were enough to make her feel sick.

Finally, Evie stopped, taking deep breaths and trying to contain what little she may have had left in her stomach. Mal put a hand over her mouth, attempting to avoid getting her insides too worked up over Evie’s vomiting issues.

“Umm…. Are you done, you think?” Mal finally dared to question. Evie nodded her head carefully, Mal keeping a firm hold on Evie’s waterfall of deep blue hair.

Mal reached over her head and flushed the toilet. She then helped Evie up and turned to fetch a washcloth from the nearby cabinet. Mal kept her arm outstretched so she wouldn’t tug the bluenette’s long locks and she wet the cloth with warm water.

“Here, E,” Mal offered, stepping closer and wiping at Evie’s face and mouth gently but firmly. Evie tiredly gazed at the green-eyed girl, silently expressing her gratitude with her own warm chocolate orbs.

Once Mal was finished, she carefully laid Evie’s hair on her back, and took her hand as she left the bathroom.

She guided them both over to Evie’s vanity and she opened a drawer, digging out the hair scrunchies. Mal withdrew a beautiful purple one at random and started to wrap Evie’s hair in it.

“Mal, do you think you could get me a red one instead?” Evie weakly questioned, her voice so opposite of her usual soothing tone.

Mal slowly paused in her work, glancing at the scrunchie that she had nearly succeeded in tying. She then returned her gaze to meet Evie’s own in the mirror before them. Evie at least had the good graces to look a bit sheepish after her request, but she was ultimately unapologetic

“Fine,” Mal drug out the “f” as she took the purple one and threw it back in the drawer, fetching the red one instead.

“Thank you,” Evie scratchily expressed her gratitude.

Mal begrudgingly nodded her head in response, knowing that just because Evie was physically sick today did not mean that she was in any way ailed in the way of her picky fashion sense.

Once she was finished working with Evie’s hair, Mal rubbed her shoulder gently, moving away so that she could go and lay on her bed. It may not have been as close to the air conditioning vent as Evie’s bed, but Mal really just wanted her own space right now. The thought of Evie’s puking was making her feel like throwing up and she needed to lay down on a slightly cooler mattress than the one that Evie and she had been laying on.

Besides, she also halfheartedly hoped that Evie would stay on her own bed.

“Mal, can you get me a tissue?” Evie questioned.

Mal hesitantly turned to face the other girl and she immediately recoiled upon the sight of her runny, red nose. As soon as Mal caught sight of the snot, she was sure she was going to puke.

“My gosh, Evie! Do something about that!” Mal exclaimed, freaking out as she shielded her eyes from the sight. Honestly, Mal was sure that Evie was the most gross sick person she had ever had the displeasure of witnessing. Sickness made her so opposite of herself. But then again, it might mean that she just trusted Mal more than most people and that’s why Evie let Mal see her in such a condition.

“I’m trying! I need a tissue,” Evie whined.

“Well, go tissue peddling! I don’t have any!” Mal raised her voice, reaching her limit of being grossed out.

“Oh! I could use toilet paper!” Evie suddenly suggested, heading for the bathroom with her head

Mal held onto the bedpost with an iron grip and was quite sure that she was going to push Evie out of the bathroom and puke herself.

Upon Evie’s return, Mal let out an exasperated breath, her eyes wide as she controlled her now-rolling stomach.

She then flopped down on her own bed, letting out a breath of relief upon the realization that it was cooler than Evie’s blankets. Mal closed her eyes in pure happiness at the sudden respite from the heat.

“Mal?” Evie weakly coughed from her bedside. Mal resisted a groan, turning over to face the bluenette. She raised a brow upon seeing that Evie was on her knees beside the bed, her best and most adorable pout positioned on her face.

“What?” Mal asked, studying the other girl’s face.

“Can I please lie on your bed?”

“Sure, just let me go to yours,” Mal told her, knowing fully what Evie meant. She loved Evie, but good grief, she was driving her nuts with this clinginess.

“I meant can I lie on your bed with you? Pwease?” Evie pleaded, poking out her lip in a pout that reminded Mal of her own puppy dog face.

“And how old are you again? The last time I checked, it was a bigger number than five,” Mal told her. Evie just stared into her eyes for a bit longer, trying to connive her into letting her onto the bed.

After a moment, Mal felt her resolve weaken, because, in the end, Evie was sick and weak and Mal wasn’t completely heartless.

“Get up here, you baby. You’re lucky I love you,” Mal told her, scooting to the opposite side of the bed.

Evie’s tired, begging eyes immediately brightened as she stood up and plopped down next to the green-eyed girl. The bluenette happily settled in her side of the bed, reaching her hand over for Mal’s.

The faerie took it in her own with a roll of her eyes.

“I’m glad you’re my sister,” Evie murmured, sounding like she was about to fall asleep. Mal immediately felt her heart soften after that statement, and she turned over to face Evie with a soft smile.

“Yeah. I’m glad you’re mine, too. Even if you _are_ absolutely disgusting when you’re sick.”

Evie’s face lit up in a beautifully happy smile and Mal couldn’t help but feel a swell of fondness for the other girl. Evie then moved her arms around Mal and laid her leg on top of the purple-haired girl’s own as her eyes drifted shut.

Mal breathed quietly and steadily, hoping to lull Evie to sleep. Before too long, Evie had finally went into a peaceful rest, seeming so far away from her current condition in her state of sleep.

But, indisputably, Mal was seriously beginning to feel Evie’s fever. All two-hundred-fifty degrees of it emanating onto Mal’s trapped form on the bed. Mal looked over at Evie, hoping to untangle herself from the other girl, but it suddenly occurred to her that the bluenette was a light sleeper.

She needed to get away. This heat was going to be the death of her. It was so unpleasant and so uncomfortable.

Mal looked around, desperately trying to think of some way to get loose and away. Her eyes happened to settle upon her phone that was on the nightstand nearby. And that was when she concocted the most gloriously and deliciously wicked idea that she had since she left the Isle.

The green-eyed girl reached over for the device just nearby her, desperately attempting to avoid waking the beast that was just waiting for the right moment to strike. She inched her fingers across the wood surface of her nightstand just a little further and they finally found the nice, soothing plastic of her phone case.

She immediately set forth to texting her targeted suckers.

“_Hey, Carlos? Can you and Jay come to me and Evie’s dorm? I really need to talk to you about something. It’s important_.”

“_Sure. What’s up_?” Mal bit her lip as she thought of a good response.

“_I’d rather talk to you in person about it_,” she sent it with an evil grin, watching as her plan was coming together before her very eyes.

He agreed easily, saying that Jay was with him now, and Mal knew that now all she had to do was figure out some way to slide out of Evie’s tight hold or to find how she could trick her into going into the bathroom. She knew she didn’t have much time to figure something out.

Mal finally decided that it would be best to try to carefully slip away instead of purposefully deceiving the girl. Trickery would be her last resort with Evie. After all, she wouldn’t be able to help feeling a little bit bad about misleading the bluenette.

So, ever-creeping, Mal barely moved her leg so that it was on the edge of the bed, her eyes glued to Evie’s shiny locks the entire time.

When Evie didn’t show any signs of responding, Mal slid her foot off of the bed and placed it on the floor gently. She then eased her body up a bit, trying to pull her leg out from under Evie.

She froze, her muscles tense, when the bluenette stirred but rolled her eyes in exasperation when Evie simply snuggled into her more. Mal pulled her right leg out from the blonde’s weight, and carefully put it on the edge of the bed. At that point, she was nearly off the bed. She just needed Evie to loosen her hold on her.

Mal gently attempted to pull Evie’s arms away from her waist, taking great care in making sure that the girl didn’t awaken.

Once she succeeded in this endeavor, she slid off of the bed fully. Mal carefully stepped over to the door, her phone in hand. She carefully opened the door, sliding out quietly, and keeping her eyes firmly affixed on Evie’s form.

She shut it carefully and exhaled with relief. Mal finally made her way out of that horrible warzone. Mal hated to admit it, but she wasn’t cut out for all that caretaking. Sure, she could handle emotional breakdowns and comforting after that sort of problem, but sickness with puking and snot and fevers… That was just too much.

“Hey, Mal!” Carlos called out, coming down the hall at a jog with Jay right behind him.

Mal put on her best innocent expression, knowing that they would easily fall for it. Sure enough, Carlos immediately looked even more concerned and Jay’s eyes softened as he quietly watched the shift in her expression.

“Hey, guys. Evie’s already here. Come in,” Mal opened the door as she spoke, ushering them both in.

Her eyes widened in panic as she saw Evie slowly raise up with a dazed and confused expression. She quickly pushed Jay in behind Carlos and she slammed the door, running as far away from the cursed place as her legs could take her. The more guilty part of her brain continued to nag that she should go back and explain things, but she knew that nobody particularly wanted to look after a whiny Evie and if she explained, then the boys would just leave her with it.

Besides, she’d come back in a little while. Whenever she felt prepared to deal with everything that came with Evie’s sickness and when she had finally found a place that was not scorching hot.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Carlos’ eyes widened as Jay was suddenly shoved into him and the door slammed. He looked back at Jay, a questioning look on his face. Jay just shrugged his shoulders in an apparent signaling that he had no idea what was going on either.

“I think I’m going to throw up again,” Evie suddenly wailed as she made a beeline for the bathroom. Jay immediately looked like he was going to freak out, so Carlos quickly hurried to the bathroom to help Evie out.

Carlos took the ends of her hair carefully in his hand, keeping them from falling over her shoulder while she was taking care of things. He swallowed hard as Evie coughed and hacked over the edge of the toilet. He hadn’t ever handled anything quite like this before, and quite frankly, it was completely revolting.

Evie was always the one that was the caretaker. If any of them got sick back on the Isle, she would be the one that would stay at Mal’s “lair” with them and keep watch over them. Of course, she had only ever cared for Jay and Carlos. Mal had never gotten sick. At least, she had never been seen sick outside of her home. Inside of her house, Carlos had no idea if she had ever been sick or not.

When Evie was finally through, he took a nearby cloth that looked like it had already been wetted and he rinsed it out with warm water. Carlos wiped her face carefully as he allowed himself to really take in the older girl’s appearance.

Her hair was awful and had none of her usual stylish touches, her face had an absolute absence of any sort of the makeup that she always wore, and she overall just looked like a complete mess. If the puking hadn’t explained it, then just her appearance would indicate that Evie was not feeling well at all.

Carlos guided her back to the bed and she gently eased down on it in a sitting position, obviously attempting to avoid further upsetting her weak stomach.

The de Vil looked over at Jay and raised an eyebrow. To his disappointment, Jay appeared to be just about as clueless as he was.

“Thank you, Snowflake,” Evie expressed, keeping her hand on Carlos’. He nodded his head quietly, allowing Evie to hold onto him for a few more moments before gently moving his hand out from underneath Evie’s so he could go and talk to Jay.

She immediately protested and she latched onto his hand again in a feeble attempt to make him stay with her.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back,” Carlos reassured her. He approached Jay and they huddled together closely in hopes that Evie wouldn’t overhear.

“So why did Mal ask us to come over and talk about something, only to shut us here in her room?” Jay asked and crossed his arms.

“Maybe she had to get something?” Carlos suggested and winced as the idea even sounded weak to his own ears. Jay eyed him, unimpressed.

“More than likely, it was a trick,” Jay asserted.

“But why-”

“Look at her, man,” Jay told him. Carlos obeyed and they both looked over at the bluenette that was currently trying to surreptitiously snort the mucus back into her nose. When she happened to spot the both of them looking at her, she jumped and quickly waved in a would-be casual manner if her sickness didn’t take away all of the charisma she possessed.

“Yeah… I think I see what you mean,” Carlos agreed, looking back at Jay with a barely disguised shiver of disgust. “But Mal shouldn’t have just left her.”

“She didn’t. Why do you think she dragged us here?” Jay explained. Carlos shrugged his shoulders noncommittally, knowing that Jay was right but not wanting to think that Mal had tricked them.

“You’ve got a point. Do you think she’s intending on coming back to take over for us?”

“Probably. Just not as soon as I’d like,” Jay told him, wincing as Evie went into a sneezing fit which then evolved into rough coughing.

They watched her for a few seconds more before Jay looked back at Carlos, a resolved expression on his face.

“Okay, bro, you take care of her and I’m going to go find Mal,” Jay informed him. Carlos’ eyes went wide as he stared at the former thief with disbelief.

“What the-”

“Sorry,” Jay apologized with a not so sincere look of regret on his face. “I just think that you’re better at this sort of thing.”

“Wait-”

“Plus, you’re already contaminated by her germs, so you know,” Jay added, opening the door and starting to leave out of it. Carlos stood there for just a moment, his mouth hanging open in shock at Jay’s sudden deserting. But just before Jay disappeared behind the door, Carlos sprang into action.

“Great! You’re bailing on me, too?!?” Carlos finally told him, pushing the door so it wouldn’t close completely.

“No, I’m just getting back the person that bailed on all three of us,” Jay slyly replied, using more force on the door than Carlos and effectively shutting it.

Carlos stared at the door, his brow furrowed and his jaw set in irritation, but he ultimately decided that it wasn’t that big of a deal and Jay would likely be back with Mal in just a few minutes.

He went back to sit beside Evie on the bed, and she moved over next to him immediately, wrapping an arm around him as they comfortably lounged on Mal’s bed.

She was hot and the room was quite heated, too, but it didn’t bother him that badly. He was used to high temperatures because of his time on the Tourney Field.

Carlos could feel his eyelids growing increasingly heavier as he leaned his head against Evie. He guessed it wouldn’t be so bad to take a little nap while he waited.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Mal had finally found the perfect place to stay that actually had good air conditioning- Ben’s office. She was currently relaxed on the couch as Ben worked quietly on his documents and listened to her story of woe.

“So, like I said, she was seriously grossing me out, so I tricked- convinced! Convinced the boys to come and watch over her. I just needed a cool place to hang out for a little while and take a break,” Mal finished her story, nervously glancing at Ben and hoping he hadn’t heard her little slip of the tongue.

“Has she taken any medicine?” Ben finally asked after several beats, looking up from the current paper that he was diligently studying.

Mal raised an eyebrow at him, completely unimpressed with his assumption that a bulletproof VK such as herself would ever have any need for medicine and would possess any at all.

“Well, does Evie’s mother have a visible waistline?” Ben just looked at her quizzically, shrugging his shoulders slowly in confusion.

“I don’t really know. I’ve never seen her,” he laughed, his eyes twinkling in that attractive manner that always made Mal want to smile.

“Don’t worry because the answer’s no.”

“Why don’t you take some of these antibiotics to her?” Ben offered, reaching into his desk and withdrawing a container of pills.

“Uh… Aren’t those like prescribed to certain people?” Mal questioned, distrustfully eyeing the bottle as she raised up a little from her carelessly comfortable spot on the sofa.

“Oh, don’t worry. These are just general ones. Anybody can use them as long as you read the right dosage and the directions for using them on the back of the bottle,” he explained, placing it carefully on his desk.

“That’s cool,” Mal relaxed once again against the coolness of the cushions around her. After a few moments of silence, however, she felt the burning urge to explain her cluelessness surrounding medication. It was a little embarrassing not to know anything about it when everyone else seemed so educated on the subject.

“Y’know on the Isle, we didn’t have any medicine,” Mal spoke, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed Ben immediately snap to attention. “When any of us got sick- which of course, I didn’t- the only option was to tough it out,” Mal told him bluntly.

It was a little strange relating this to someone that had no idea about the horrors on the Isle. To someone that had grown up privileged their entire life. But it was also a refreshing change to tell someone that hadn’t actually lived it.

Ben didn’t respond for a long time as he sat there quietly considering what she had said. But when he did finally respond, he had a vigor and determination in his voice.

“Mal, I promise you, I’m going to see to it that the Isle has ample access to medicine,” Ben assured her, and Mal could hear the clear sincerity.

She simply nodded with a small smile, idly examining the ceiling as she relaxed.

But alas, her cool paradise couldn’t last forever. A few hours later, Jay finally managed to find Mal at her genius hiding place and after much talking with and scolding her and laughing on Ben’s part, he dragged her back to her and Evie’s dorm.

Mal, resignedly stumbled through the door, the beginnings of the moonlight being the only illumination in the entire room. Jay was right behind her, so she had no choice but to actually enter.

She immediately lost her look of great dread and trepidation in favor of a soft smile at the scene that was currently going on upon her bed. Carlos and Evie were both snuggled into the comforter, Evie snoring softly and Carlos nearly drooling in her hair as he slept.

Mal and Jay exchanged a fond glance and they walked into the room. They each approached either side of the bed, considering waking up the both of them so that Carlos could go back to his room and Evie could go back to her bed.

But as they both looked at the two, they mutually decided that they didn’t have the heart to disturb them from their peaceful rest.

Mal did have to give Evie her medicine, though, so she went to the bathroom and filled up a cup of water. After reading the back of the container that Ben gave her, she plucked out two pills and approached her bedside once again.

She gently prodded at the slightly older girl until she was barely awake and she gently convinced her to take the pills. Evie easily cooperated and quickly fell back asleep after she was through.

Mal then kicked off her shoes and gently eased onto the bed. She laid her back between Evie’s legs so that her head was resting on Evie’s stomach. Jay had rid himself of his shoes as well and he proceeded to carefully pull his feet up onto the mattress, maneuvering Carlos’ legs so that they were to the side of him.

Mal laid her arms on Evie’s legs and closed her eyes, allowing herself to just bask in the closeness of her three most trusted people in the world as she drifted off to sleep along with them.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Mal opened her eyes, and the first thing that she registered fully was that her throat was absolutely killing her and her stomach felt awful.

She rose up carefully, looking around and taking in her surroundings. Both of the boys were gone and Evie was definitely not underneath her anymore. Mal almost felt a sense of panic until Evie suddenly emerged from the bathroom, looking like she felt much better than she did the previous day.

Her hair was out of that messy ponytail and it was actually glistening in the sunshine that was pouring through the window. But Mal could tell she was not at one hundred percent simply because she was wearing pajamas this late in the day.

She looked over at Mal and upon realizing that the other girl was awake finally, she smiled warmly, her expression only slightly dimmer than her usual self.

“Morning,” Evie greeted, her voice strangely deeper than it normally sounded, but it was certainly not that harsh rasp that it was yesterday. Mal attempted to speak and her voice at first eluded her as she coughed violently.

Evie immediately looked sympathetic and she came over to sit beside Mal on the bed. She immediately started rubbing her back gently and comfortingly. Once Mal had finally finished, Evie placed her lips against Mal’s forehead, feeling for a fever. When she had found the answer to her unasked question, she kissed Mal’s temple gently.

“You’ve got a fever,” she murmured softly, looking into Mal’s eyes as she spoke. Mal took a deep breath, collecting herself before she attempted to speak again.

“You sound better,” Mal hoarsely acknowledged, still reeling at the fact that she herself was sick.

“I feel better. Might be thanks to the someone that brought me medicine last night,” Evie smiled, bumping Mal’s shoulder gently. Mal allowed herself a small smile, but it quickly faded as she considered how she had left Evie.

“E… I want to apologize for leaving you here by yourself and being so squeamish about everything,” Mal expressed as she brought her gaze up to meet Evie’s own. The bluenette’s eyes immediately softened as she fondly watched the green-eyed girl.

“Mal, don’t worry about that. Everybody’s different and you shouldn’t feel guilty about it. Snot and puke grosses you out, while it doesn’t really bother me that badly. It’s okay,” Evie reassured, and Mal sighed in relief at the fact that Evie understood and was not offended.

However, her eyes suddenly went wide as she hurried past Evie and made a mad dash for the toilet.

As she kneeled before the porcelain throne and Evie held her hair back with that infamous gentle care, Mal couldn’t help but thank goodness that Evie was a more patient caretaker than herself. But most of all, she was thankful that Evie was there for her through thick and thin.


End file.
